Woman chases vandal 2 km, and nabs suspect

She's not a long distance runner. She's not even a personal trainer. But when a teenage vandal smashed in the door of Lindsay Geddes's gym, determination set in, and she ran.

She chased the vandal from the Lime Ridge GoodLife Fitness club, where she's been a general manager for four years, through winding residential streets. In the end, she chased him two kilometres.

Somewhere around the Lincoln Alexander Parkway at Upper Wellington, she called out to him that she wasn't going to stop, so he might as well give in. And he did.

“He was a pretty big boy and he was more exhausted, so I think he was probably happy it was over with,” said Geddes, 36, who works out two or three times a week.

Hamilton Police Service awarded Geddes for her determination at the service's annual awards night Monday. She received the police services board partnership award with a number of other civilian achievers.

She can now look back and see the achievement of the long-haul chase. But at the time, she moved on instinct.

The incident began around 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 26, 2012. After a youth who appeared to be about 16 kicked in the door at her gym, Geddes told him she'd called police.

“He decided he wasn't going to stick around and he ended up running away,” she said. “I didn't think that was right so I actually ended up going after him.”

Sat down and talked

She kept the police on the phone as she ran. When she caught up to the youth, they sat and talked for a few minutes. He'd had a bad morning at school and taken it out on the door, Geddes said. He also had a disruptive home life and “unfortunately, he's going down a very bad path.”

Geddes wasn't afraid as she chased him. Her only thought was not to let him get away. Afterward, when people in her life heard what she'd done, some thought it was wonderful and some worried for her safety.

“When I heard some of the stuff he did in the past, it probably wasn't a great idea, but I don't think I would change it,” she said.

Also at the ceremony, Const. Jason Little received the service's member of the year award for saving a woman's life.

Little found the woman with a deep neck wound after being called to Sanford Avenue North around 3:28 a.m. on July 4 of last year.

Officer saves woman with slashed throat

Little grabbed a nearby blanket and wrapped it around her neck, and he and another officer applied direct pressure to the wound until paramedics arrived.

When emergency services did arrive, Little helped apply the dressings and transport the woman to hospital. He remained with the victim in the trauma room and throughout surgery.

Little later arrested a suspect in the stabbing.

The service's Project Shutdown program received the Leonard G. Lawrence award, which is also awarded with the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce and the Hamilton Police Association.

Project Shutdown focuses on the theft and dismantling of high-end stolen vehicles.